Farming friends have struck upon a baa-rilliant plan to fundraise to fight cancer.
Stephen and Helen Sheldon, from Adlington, and their pals Chris and Carolyn Thompson, from Kerridge, are offering people the chance to name a new born lamb in exchange for a donation to Prostate Cancer UK charity (PCUK).
Once the lamb arrives its name will be spray painted on its fleece.
They are expecting up to 450 lambs to arrive any time between now and April.
The ‘Name and Lamb’ event has already collected a growing list of names including Holroyd, after the Macclesfield Town FC striker, Mr Moo, Boob and Dolly.
Helen, who runs Sugar Lane Farm in Adlington, said: “We’ve had more than 150 pledges so far, and some brilliant names. We’ve had a few longer ones, so it’s going to be tricky getting them on, but we’ll give it a go.
“Having launched the appeal last month we’ve been stunned at how many people have got involved. People have been so generous.”
The focus of the fundraising was inspired by Chris, from Kerridge, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012.
He decided to volunteer for the charity to repay the help and support he received.
The group tried a similar lamb-naming scheme last year, midway through the season, raising more than £1,000.
This time they want to double that amount.
Helen said: “One day a friend of ours said that he wanted to name a sheep and that he would donate some cash to PCUK in memory of a loved one, and there the idea was born.
“We were well into the lambing season by this point but we decided to communicate the idea out via social media to see what came of it.
“We very quickly became inundated with requests and the local fields were soon awash with multi-coloured named sheep.”
Chris added: “We had lambs named after footballer Sergio Aguero, sheep named after children and grandchildren, sheep named in memory of loved ones, and lot’s named in memory of family members who had been through the cancer journey.
“We even had one named Grumpy after a friend’s husband.”
If you want to support the appeal, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/Namethelamb , or search for the Facebook group ‘Name the Lamb in aid of Prostate cancer UK’.
